Women, war and nation-state building: the commemorations of Kartini Day in the newly independent Indonesia (1946–1949)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Despite numerous works of Kartini as Indonesia’s most famous feminist icon, hardly any deep study investigated how Kartini was remembered in the first years of Indonesia’s independence. This study aims to examine how Indonesians celebrated Kartini Day during the Indonesian Revolution (1946–1949), by using print media in Indonesian, Dutch and English from that period. This study argues that for Indonesian nationalists at that time, commemorating Kartini Day was of paramount importance to encourage women empowerment based on the Indonesian nation-state concept. The commemorations were held in many places in Indonesia and were attended by numerous people from different walks of life. During the commemorations, Indonesian women were persuaded to adopt new roles in that era, namely as devoted Indonesian citizens who should contribute to the new country, especially in the field of women empowerment, community service, political participation and war effort. However, Indonesian women were criticised for still being Dutch-oriented and interpreting their freedom way too far. These findings indicate that during the Revolution, the commemorations of Kartini Day was urgently needed by the Indonesian nation-state as a momentum to promote Indonesian nationalism among women and encourage women’s participation in the nation-state building process and in the Dutch-Indonesian conflict.